Andrea Iannone and Team Go Eleven will remember this Saturday in Most for a long time. One of the hardest days physically, in the heat of July, in which the rider from Vasto gave his all, achieving two sensational results on his debut on this track. Second position on the grid, at the end of a very tight qualifying, and third place in Race 1. A really significant podium, which marks the exit from a though period in terms of results, between Misano and Donington. Also exciting to follow for the fans was battle between Andrea Iannone and Danilo Petrucci.
In FP 3 the technicians and the rider from Vasto realized that today could have been a great day; always in the top 5 places, with used tyre, then a time attack attempt at the end which projected the Ducati Go Eleven into second place. All that remained was to complete the work and achieve an excellent position on the grid.
Free Practice 3:
P 1 T. Razgatlioglu 1.30.719
P 2 A. Iannone + 0.790
P 3 A. Bautista + 0.819
In qualifying the exceptional result came thanks to a perfect strategy from the whole team and the right mix of speed and smart from Andrea Iannone.Second position on the grid, even with a not precise lap, but which still earned him the front row. Incredibly fast second and fourth sectors, where he kept and defended second place. Here in Most, starting from the front makes a huge difference, with the first chicane being very slow.
P 1 T. Razgatlioglu 1.30.064
P 2 A. Iannone + 0.665
P 3 A. Lowes + 0.694
Excellent start in Race 1, where Andrea defends second position from Bulega’s attacks. In the first laps he tries to follow Toprak’s furious pace, but is forced to let him go, the difference from the BMW rider is around 3/4 tenths per lap, only to then slow down towards the end. Bulega attacks the number 29, Petrucci follows number 11 overtaking the rider from Vasto, who at the end of the competition said he was “in control”, waiting for the final laps. Nicolò is unable to keep up with the pace of his two Independent rivals, who overtake him again and create a little gap. Iannone tries to attack Danilo once in turn 1, but goes straight due to a front lock, then begins a real chase on the edge of hundredths. He sprints to the finish line, third place, back on the podium!
Race 1:
P 1 T. Razgatlioglu 33’53.537
P 2 D. Petrucci + 5.740
P 3 A. Iannone + 5.881
At the beginning it was said that today’s podium has great value. The race in Most was incredibly fast and close, Andrea was the second fastest rider on the track, but we must also admit the skill of his opponents and today Danilo Petrucci and Team Barni Racing were stronger. Seeing the two of them fighting again for something important turned the fans’ clock back a few years. The result was excellent considering that Andrea Iannone rode at Most for the first time yesterday, he was fifteenth at the end of FP 1 and last year he watched this race from the sofa, as he himself underlined in the debriefs. Today is worth it, it’s worth a lot and the whole team will give their all to improve even further tomorrow.
Andrea Iannone (Rider): “It’s my first race at Most, it wasn’t so easy to predict to achieve such a result. In the first practice session I was 15th, we managed to recover a lot. We did a magnificent job with the team, yesterday we stayed in meetings until late to define the final details. We are very motivated in trying to obtain good results, it is not easy because the general level is very high, but we still need to perfect some aspects.”